Izumo-class
The Izumo-class Battleship is a ship in the Gundam SEED Aeon series produced by Morgenroete Inc. and used by the ORB Union. Combat Abilities Since the Izumo-class was the basis for the Archangel-class assault ship, the weaponry of both classes is nearly the same, although all in all the Izumo-class carries less weaponry than the Archangel-class. The armament features positron blaster cannons, beam guns, CIWS and several missile launchers. Armaments ;*Positron Blaster Cannon The strongest weapon of the Izumo-class are two dual "Lohengrin" positron blaster cannons, which are retractable and mounted in the sides of the rear engine sections. ;*High-energy Beam Gun The only other beam weapons carried by ships of the Izumo-class are two "Gottfried" Mk 71 225 cm Dual High-energy Beam Guns, which are mounted on rotating hardpoints that allow them to cover a wide firing angle. In the same manner as Archangel-class, the Gottfrieds are also retractable. ;*CIWS The only shell firing weapons on the ship are 20 "Igelstellung" 75mm Automatic Multi-barrel CIWS guns, used to shoot down incoming missiles or Mobile Weapons. As a point defense weapon, the Igelstellungs are mounted on hardpoints spread over the hull of the ship so as to cover a maximum number of approaches. ;*Missile Launchers Besides its energy guns and shell-firing weapons, the Izumo-class is also equipped with a large number of missile launchers, which are divided into surface-to-ship and surface-to-air types. System Features As with the armament, the interior design of the Izumo-class is very similar to the interior of the Archangel-class. The Izumo-class nevertheless differs from the Archangel class in several points, such as with its modular design. Modular design A unique feature of the Izumo-class is its ability to split itself apart into five smaller modules. This allows the Izumo-class to jettison the forward and rear modules containing most of the weaponry, and replace them with a separate forward module for atmospheric entry and launches back into space. Once the core module descends to the surface, the armament modules remain in orbit to be recovered upon the ship's return. Due to its lower mass compared to the whole ship, the single module can easily be sent up into space using a mass driver, making transport between planet and space much more cost-efficient. History The Izumo-class battleships are powerful warships of the Orb Union which were created at an unknown point of time before C.E. 71. When the Earth Alliance started their G Project, they also planned to create a mobile suit carrier ship, for which the Izumo-class became the basis. The result was the Archangel-class. Over time, at least four Izumo-class ships were built. Izumo The original ship of the Izumo-class and namesake of the class belongs to Orb's Sahaku family. At first the ship is used by Rondo Ghina Sahaku as its base of operations. Ghina planned to strengthen Orb's position by playing the Earth Alliance Forces and ZAFT against each other. He was however eventually killed by Gai Murakumo. Afterwards Ghina's twin sister Rondo Mina Sahaku took control of the Izumo and continued her brother's plans, although not with such extreme measures as her brother. Kusanagi This ship belongs to the Attha family and was used in C.E. 71 by Cagalli Yula Athha and Ledonir Kisaka to escape the invasion of Orb by the Earth Alliance. The ship, together with the Archangel and Eternal, formed the Three Ships Alliance, a small group which planned to end the Bloody Valentine War. The Kusanagi took part in the battles at the Mendel colony as wells as destroying the Vesalius, and the final battle of the war, in which it attempted to destroy the GENESIS super weapon.